Charter Arms Mag Pug Standard XL 41 Magnum Revolver - Stainless/Silver, 5 Rounds

I purchased one of these and I love it. It is well made, and accurate. I don’t like shooting heavy loads, as it is light, and is a handful with full .41 mag loads. I would buy another in a minute if it were available.

Great little revolver!! The light frame is a great everyday carrier. You feel the recoil a little more besides it being a snub nose. I loved it. No issues.
Buds was great as always!

Excellent.. Get one.. Recoil is not bad at all.

Although I don't buy inexpensive handguns normally but my brother has two Charter Arms and he told me you'll be surprised with the quality so I bought the Pug 41 Magnum stainless steel Charter Arms. Pleased to say the least very nice out of the box took it to the range and it's got a little bite to it but it shoots great for an inexpensive firearms that you could depend your life on or protect your loved ones this is a great Buy Charter Arms puts out a very good product. I normally carry a Colt Defender 45 but the way that Charter Arms revolver performance I will be carrying it off and on as well and I would tell anyone to look very hard at Charter Arms before they make a decision being that the price on them or so fair that it is surprising you get such quality. For the price kudos Charter Arms.one great revolver.

I live in somewhat unique circumstance: although I do live in town, my place is behind a greenbelt and right up alongside a salmon creek and a whole lot of bears. They are usually too busy fishing to bother anyone, but inevitably there have been a few interspecies misunderstandings along the way, especially in the spring before the salmon run. I've been carrying a Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum while working around the place, but it wasn't quite discrete enough to leave on to run errands (often on foot) without a jacket. And it's been too warm lately for a jacket. Recently a co-worker was shopping for a concealed-carry piece and I showed him the Charter Arms web page, and lo and behold, discovered the .41 Mag Pug. A moderately-loaded .41 Magnum in a short barrel can meet the unofficial Standard Criteria for Bear Guns: a 200 grain or heavier hard-cast, flat-nose bullet .40 caliber or bigger doing at least 1,000 feet per second. Such power in a comfortable and discrete size were too much to resist. The price was icing on the cake. I ordered one from Bud's and it showed up at the local hardware store a few days later. I also picked up a couple boxes of .41 Magnum "Cowboy Action" rounds for practice and a set of reloading dies. Although the "Cowboy Action" loads were accurate and gentle they were hard to fully chamber in the Mag Pug, resulting in a couple of "tie-ups". But my properly-sized reloads hit harder and chamber just fine. I now carry the Mag Pug in a Charter Arms factory holster with total confidence. If you need a big bore Magnum for concealed carry I can think of nothing better.

I owned a couple of Charter Arms products that I purchased new back in the 1980's and while they had some good qualities, they also had some issues that kept me from buying another CA product until now. Over the last several years I'd heard that Charter Arms quality had improved from what it had been, and then, a little over 6 months ago, I'd seen (on Gunblast w/Jeff Quinn) that they were going to release a .41 magnum CA, and I said, "Maybe it's time to give Charter Arms another chance." I was glad I did. The gun came in from Bud's a couple of weeks ago, and I was pleasantly surprised with mechanical function of the gun. The action was smooth and consistent, and the lock up was quite tight, contrary to what the other reviewer said. (I should also mention that I've never had seen any ad that said this gun was ported. If I had, I never would've bought it, as ported magnums are a bit too loud for my ears.) You should know that it isn't finished as nicely as other .41 magnums like the Blackhawk or the S&W model 57, but it costs $150 to $300 less than those guns, so that's where the cost savings are. There were some fairly conspicuous milling marks on the inside of the recoil shield. Nothing bad on the outside of the gun, though, and the gun has a pretty substantial feel for a revolver that only weighs 23 to 24 oz. (The specs say 23, but my scale says 23.5.) I finally shot the CA today and was pleased. No malfunctions of any type. As to the obvious concern that many people (the recoil for a gun of this light weight and heavy caliber): The saving grace for the CA .41 mag is that HSM makes "cowboy loads" in .41 magnum, and they're quite manageable. They may be slightly stout for more timid shooters, but not too bad. I'd say recoil with this ammo is roughly equivalent to P .38 ammo out of a S&W snubbie K frame or something. I shot several rounds of this stuff at maybe 7 yards, and was pleased with the accuracy. More than accurate enough for a defensive revolver. Then I shot some Federal Power Shok hollow point ammo and I'd have to say...be prepared. Where the cowboy loads won't really intimidate timid shooters, the Power Shoks will be a real handful for even experienced shooters. The good news is that even with all that recoil, I was still able to get all rounds on target for good self defense pattern...even though this was the first time I fired the weapon. That means this gun would be REAL effective weapon for black bear protection (or maybe even grizzly...but try the bear spray first. :) ) The gun seemed to handle the heavy ammo fine. No ill effects. It can probably handle ammo heavier than the power shoks, but your wrists may not. Keep that in mind, and you'll be pleased with the gun. Thanks Bud's for the good service through the years.

So light I had to put a magnet on it & why not, advertised as ported and it wasn't; could be aluminum too. Manual in case was for the .357. The parts sheet, showing an exploded view with part numbers, also for the .357. That's where the negatives end. Overall very impressed. Adjustable sights would be laughable on a snub, probably would be fired "Jack Ruby style" in a self defense situation anyway, but indexing & crowning are spot on. First shots at 30': two bulls eyes, two in 6" circle & one flier. This is excellent QC for a mass production, sub $400 pistol. Out of the box: very clean, lightly oiled, with all 5 chambers smoked from factory test fires. Grips are excellent for the heavy recoil. No middle finger banging on trigger guard. Cylinder rotates clockwise, like a Colt. Crane drops entire cylinder below cylinder release button. No fluke brass ejection hang ups on release button, like my "J" frame Smith. Ejector rod appears flimsy but extracts fine. Muzzle velocity suffers about 350 fps when fired through a 2.5" compared to a 4" barrel in 41 Mag. Since "watch your background" is a carry issue in this caliber, it might be a good thing. I would have to give it 3 stars if compared to the beefy Red hawk or my Model 57 Smith, costing more than twice as much. In the class of "see how it hits & put it in the glove box" it gets 5.

Great little gun, however, it was advertised as ported and the pair I received were not. Other than that, it is a little power house. The .41 mag in a non ported 23oz package is an absolute hand full. Not for the timid ! I actually think its the lightest .41 mag ever built and the grip that it comes with is a meld between comfort and packability, just about perfect. The pair I bought will be used for back packing in bear country and as a backup companion to a long gun. At 23oz I'm sure you will forget that you're even packing an extra gun. Shot 3 types of rounds so far. 230 grain HCFN HSM bear loads will just about take your hand off. 175 grain Winchester hollow point silver tips, a little milder and HSM 210 grain semi wad cutter cowboy loads, very easy on the hand. Your choice and this little rascal seems to handle all 3 pretty well. Kind of strange that the Charter Arms Company started in 1964, the same year the .41 mag was introduced. For you .41 mag aficionados, grab one while you can ! Ported or not Charter Arms has out done themselves with this one and may have even created a new niche in trail guns. I guess we could call Charter Arms a trail blazer for creating such a trail BLASTER ! Keep up the good work Charter !!

as for bud's, they did there part just fine. always great to buy from. as for the revolver, another story. first, it say's "ported" but it is not. the lock up is poor on all 5 chambers. I do not see this holding up very long under 41 mag loads. I thought it would be a l bit stronger & tighter for this caliber but it's the same charter lockup as there other guns. now for the "good" stuff. I emailed charter about the gun not being ported & the loose lockup. not a half hour later I get a call from "nick" the CEO/president & it was not fun. he got nasty with me & claimed that I was wrong or lying that this gun says "ported" anywhere. he called me looking for a fight. he even looked up my phone number because i never gave it! I could not believe this was the top guy at charter talking down to me & denying my claims. look around the internet & you will me it says "ported" in many places. bud's & the others did not make this up. after arguing with this guy for 10 minutes & getting nowhere It became very obvious that they would do nothing about this & it was "to bad - so sad" for me. I say to you all if you buy this gun don't expect much for the gun & especially for customer service from "nick the ceo" - worst dealing I have ever had with a gun manufacturer. i know they say you get what you pay for, but that's not even close here. I will be selling or trading this piece of scrap iron!